Dealing With Failure

What a I call a failure is what happens when things work out worse than was planned. Success is what happens when they go according to plan or better than planned.

Although we want to create success in our lives, there are still times when we might experience failure. And knowing how to deal with it is very important, particularly if we are trying to build up momentum.

How many times has a failure made you lose motivation and waste time?

Well I know that if you are the same as me then this will have happened to you so many times you have probably lost count. I am not saying it happens systematically, just that it happens a lot.

So how can we prevent this from happening? How can we use our failures, and mistakes to help us achieve our goals?

Here are some steps that may be able you help you if you have just experienced a failure.

1. Forgive yourself.
2. Don't complain. Complaining, be it mentally or verbally, is never helpful. If you have failed in some way, the best thing you can do is accept it and then decide what to do next. Sometimes it can be a good idea not to look for what to do next, if you do turn to this question don't let it worry you.
3. Focus on what is positive about your current situation. Easier said than done in many cases, this will keep your energy flowing and your thoughts creative. If you can experience gratitude for all the good things about your situation the chances are solutions will come to you spontaneously and easily.
4. Don't try work out why things went wrong so that you can remember what doesn't work and hence avoid it. At a first glance this technique seems like it should work but in truth it does not. A child learns how to walk by remembering which movements and positions work and forgetting those that do not. If you spend your time remembering what doesn't work you will be making it harder for yourself to stay focused on what does work, what does serve you. It can, in some cases, be helpful to analyze what happened but don't get too caught up in it, and there is no point in remembering what does not work. Find what does work and remember that instead !!!
5. Think of ways in which it could have worked out according to / better than planned. Find ways that you truly believe would have worked. This gives you the tools to turn a similar future situation in to a guaranteed success. This is what I mean by find what works and remember that.